It’s also a common stitch for embroidering crazy quilts. This example is done with two colors of thread.
It will help a lot when doing this stitch (at least at first) if you mark your fabric with four parallel guidelines. I like to use one of those fade out quilt markers that make a purple line that disappears in a couple of days. You can also use the blue ones that will wash out. If you’re just practicing use a pencil or thin marker.
To start bring your thread to the front on the first line. Holding the thread down with your left thumb, insert your needle on the third line even with where the thread emerges. Then, working downward and diagonally, come up on the second line.
Keeping the thread under the needle point pull the thread through to make the first stitch.
Now insert your needle on the fourth line and parallel to where your needle emerged on the last stitch. Come up again on the third line.
Do the same thing again with the needle down on the first line and back up on the second. Continue working back and forth across the lines. You’re essentially making a series of scallops that are held in place by the beginning of the next stitch.
To finish, take a tiny stitch over the last loop.
And here’s what it looks like finished. I have to admit that this is the first time I've tried this stitch and, although it looks kind of tricky, it's really very easy. You'll be zipping along in no time at all.
The look of this stitch will vary greatly depending on the angle of the needle, the length of the stitches, and how far apart your guidelines are. Once you've got the basics down, don't be afraid to experiment to get some different looks. I've posted a diagram of some variations on my Flickr account so you can see them nice and big. And how cool would this look with French knots in a second color in between the loops?
While we're on the subject of crazy quilts, let's do herringbone stitch next week.
And if you've missed any of the lessons in this series, there's a handy list of previous Stitch School posts in the menu to the right.
8 comments:
Thank again for the stitch tutorials.
This tutorial really enabled me to finally learn the feather stitch well after days of trials and failures.
I've begun a project using Dorset Feather Stitch which I assume is a variation of the feather stitch. Do yo have any suggestions on having more success on using this stitch? Also, how many strands of floss do you suggest? One more thing, my instructions ask that perle cotton be used for over whipping. I assume this is to give the needlwork more strengh. I'm creating an infant's dress.
I'm not familiar with the Dorset Feather Stitch and it's not listed in any of my embroidery books, although there are several variations on feather stitch and it may be one of those (just called by another name). I'd need to know more about what your instructions say to do.
For most embroidery three strands is about right, two if you want a more delicate line. I don't think the perle cotton would be for strength—it's a single strand—it's probably more decorative.
Feel free to email me with any info you have and I'll see if I can figure out what makes Dorset different from regular feather stitch.
thankyou so much for this tutorial, it's been an incredible help for me, i must check out the rest of your blog now and definitley bookmark it!
Thanks for posting such an easy lesson in doing a feather stitch - it's much easier than I expected it to be!
Janelle
i am looking for the "briar stitch" - i keep seeing people say it's the same as the feather stitch & coral stitch, but these don't look like the ones my aunt put on on all her quilts. my mother showed me how years ago, but i can't remember!
(my aunt was from western south carolina & the last quilt was made around 1950)
p.s. i REALLY appreciate the way you demonstrate techniques - very clear & understandable!
Well, I checked all my embroidery reference books and they say that briar stitch and feather stitch are the same thing. I suspect that briar may be a variation of feather (and possibly a regional variation) but I'd have to see it. Do you have a picture of it?
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